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Bill James

William Henry James (Big Bill)

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Both, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 4", Weight: 195 lb.

Born: January 20, 1887 in Detroit, MI (All Transactions)
Debut: June 12, 1911
Teams (by GP): Tigers/Browns/RedSox/Naps/WhiteSox 1911-1919

Final Game: September 17, 1919
Died: May 25, 1942 in Venice, CA
Buried: Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA
    About biographical information

Fan EloRater

Fine Details  · Last Updated Dec 23, 2011, 8:20AM
All-Time Rank (among Pitchers): #1. Walter Johnson… #2. Cy Young… #3. Greg Maddux… #4. Christy Mathewson… #5. Pete Alexander… #6. Tom Seaver… #7. Randy Johnson… 

Standard Pitching

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB Awards
1911 24 CLE AL 2 4 .333 4.88 8 6 0 4 0 0 51.2 58 37 28 1 32 21 2 1 2 238 70 1.742 10.1 0.2 5.6 3.7 0.66
1912 25 CLE AL 0 0 4.61 3 0 1 0 0 0 13.2 15 11 7 0 9 5 0 0 0 61 77 1.756 9.9 0.0 5.9 3.3 0.56
1914 27 SLB AL 15 14 .517 2.85 44 35 7 20 3 1 284.0 269 121 90 4 109 109 6 0 10 1162 95 1.331 8.5 0.1 3.5 3.5 1.00
1915 28 TOT AL 13 13 .500 3.26 45 31 6 11 1 1 237.1 212 115 86 3 125 82 7 0 6 976 90 1.420 8.0 0.1 4.7 3.1 0.66
1915 28 SLB AL 6 10 .375 3.59 34 22 5 8 0 1 170.1 155 89 68 2 92 58 7 0 5 708 80 1.450 8.2 0.1 4.9 3.1 0.63
1915 28 DET AL 7 3 .700 2.42 11 9 1 3 1 0 67.0 57 26 18 1 33 24 0 0 1 268 126 1.343 7.7 0.1 4.4 3.2 0.73
1916 29 DET AL 8 12 .400 3.68 30 20 4 8 0 1 151.2 141 76 62 1 79 61 11 1 6 642 78 1.451 8.4 0.1 4.7 3.6 0.77
1917 30 DET AL 13 10 .565 2.09 34 23 5 10 2 1 198.0 163 71 46 2 96 62 12 0 2 821 126 1.308 7.4 0.1 4.4 2.8 0.65
1918 31 DET AL 6 11 .353 3.76 19 18 1 8 1 0 122.0 127 68 51 3 68 42 5 0 2 546 71 1.598 9.4 0.2 5.0 3.1 0.62
1919 32 TOT AL 7 7 .500 3.71 20 13 4 7 2 0 121.1 125 60 50 2 60 26 5 0 3 505 84 1.525 9.3 0.1 4.5 1.9 0.43
1919 32 DET AL 1 0 1.000 5.79 2 1 0 0 0 0 9.1 12 6 6 0 7 3 0 0 1 44 58 2.036 11.6 0.0 6.8 2.9 0.43
1919 32 BOS AL 3 5 .375 4.09 13 7 4 4 0 0 72.2 74 42 33 2 39 12 3 0 2 306 75 1.555 9.2 0.2 4.8 1.5 0.31
1919 32 CHW AL 3 2 .600 2.52 5 5 0 3 2 0 39.1 39 12 11 0 14 11 2 0 0 155 128 1.347 8.9 0.0 3.2 2.5 0.79
8 Seasons 64 71 .474 3.20 203 146 28 68 9 4 1179.2 1110 559 420 16 578 408 48 2 31 4951 89 1.431 8.5 0.1 4.4 3.1 0.71
162 Game Avg. 12 14 .474 3.20 40 28 5 13 2 1 230 216 109 82 3 113 79 9 0 6 965 89 1.431 8.5 0.1 4.4 3.1 0.71
DET (5 yrs) 35 36 .493 3.01 96 71 11 29 4 2 548.0 500 247 183 7 283 192 28 1 12 2321 92 1.429 8.2 0.1 4.6 3.2 0.68
CLE (2 yrs) 2 4 .333 4.82 11 6 1 4 0 0 65.1 73 48 35 1 41 26 2 1 2 299 72 1.745 10.1 0.1 5.6 3.6 0.63
SLB (2 yrs) 21 24 .467 3.13 78 57 12 28 3 2 454.1 424 210 158 6 201 167 13 0 15 1870 89 1.376 8.4 0.1 4.0 3.3 0.83
BOS (1 yr) 3 5 .375 4.09 13 7 4 4 0 0 72.2 74 42 33 2 39 12 3 0 2 306 75 1.555 9.2 0.2 4.8 1.5 0.31
CHW (1 yr) 3 2 .600 2.52 5 5 0 3 2 0 39.1 39 12 11 0 14 11 2 0 0 155 128 1.347 8.9 0.0 3.2 2.5 0.79

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.
Year Age Tm Lg IP GS R Rrep Rdef aLI RAR WAR Salary Awards
1911 24 CLE AL 51.2 6 37 30 0 1.0 -7 -0.6 $
1912 25 CLE AL 13.2 0 11 8 0 1.0 -3 -0.3 $
1914 27 SLB AL 284.0 35 121 133 -2 1.0 12 1.5 $
1915 28 SLB AL 170.1 23 89 86 0 1.0 -3 -0.6 $
1915 28 DET AL 67.0 9 26 34 0 1.0 8 0.9 $
1916 29 DET AL 151.2 20 76 70 0 1.0 -6 -0.6 $
1917 30 DET AL 198.0 23 71 90 0 1.0 19 2.2 $
1918 31 DET AL 122.0 18 68 55 -4 1.0 -13 -1.4 $
1919 32 DET AL 9.1 1 6 5 0 1.0 -1 -0.1 $
1919 32 BOS AL 72.2 7 42 38 1 1.0 -4 -0.9 $
1919 32 CHW AL 39.1 5 12 20 0 1.0 8 0.9 $
8 Seasons 1179.2 147 559 569 -5 1.0 10 1.0 $
DET (5 yrs) 548.0 71 247 254 -4 1.0 7 1.0 $
CLE (2 yrs) 65.1 6 48 38 0 1.0 -10 -0.9 $
SLB (2 yrs) 454.1 58 210 219 -2 1.0 9 0.9 $
BOS (1 yr) 72.2 7 42 38 1 1.0 -4 -0.9 $
CHW (1 yr) 39.1 5 12 20 0 1.0 8 0.9 $

Postseason Pitching

Postseason Gamelog
Year Age Tm Lg Series Rslt Opp W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
1919 32 CHW AL WS L CIN 0 0 5.79 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.2 8 4 3 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 23 2.357 15.4 0.0 5.8 3.9 0.67
1 WS 0 0 5.79 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.2 8 4 3 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 23 2.357 15.4 0.0 5.8 3.9 0.67

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1911 24 CLE AL 8 19 17 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 .059 .111 .118 .229 -36 2 0 1 /1
1912 25 CLE AL 3 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .250 .000 .250 -28 0 0 1 /1
1914 27 SLB AL 44 97 89 4 10 1 1 0 2 1 2 4 38 .112 .151 .146 .297 -9 13 0 4 1
1915 28 TOT AL 45 78 63 6 14 3 0 0 4 0 0 6 24 .222 .310 .270 .580 74 17 2 7 1
1915 28 SLB AL 34 52 42 2 8 2 0 0 2 0 0 3 18 .190 .261 .238 .499 52 10 1 6 1
1915 28 DET AL 11 26 21 4 6 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 6 .286 .400 .333 .733 115 7 1 1 1
1916 29 DET AL 30 53 44 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 24 .068 .128 .068 .196 -42 3 0 6 1
1917 30 DET AL 34 69 57 7 12 0 0 0 2 0 10 20 .211 .328 .211 .539 65 12 0 2 1
1918 31 DET AL 19 47 46 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 12 .109 .128 .130 .258 -21 6 0 0 1
1919 32 TOT AL 20 45 39 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 1 11 .154 .195 .154 .349 -0 6 1 4 1
1919 32 DET AL 2 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .250 .250 .250 .500 42 1 0 0 /1
1919 32 BOS AL 13 26 21 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 .143 .217 .143 .360 5 3 1 3 1
1919 32 CHW AL 5 15 14 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 .143 .143 .286 -20 2 0 1 /1
8 Seasons 203 413 358 25 51 6 1 0 12 1 2 27 138 .142 .209 .165 .374 12 59 3 25
162 Game Avg. 162 330 286 20 41 5 1 0 10 1 22 110 .142 .209 .165 .374 12 47 2 20
DET (5 yrs) 96 199 172 15 27 2 0 0 6 0 0 17 64 .157 .237 .169 .405 22 29 1 9
CLE (2 yrs) 11 24 20 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 9 .050 .136 .100 .236 -34 2 0 2
SLB (2 yrs) 78 149 131 6 18 3 1 0 4 1 2 7 56 .137 .187 .176 .363 11 23 1 10
BOS (1 yr) 13 26 21 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 7 .143 .217 .143 .360 5 3 1 3
CHW (1 yr) 5 15 14 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 .143 .143 .286 -20 2 0 1

Player Value--Batters

WAR: 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Strtr, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl.
Year Age Tm Lg PA Rbat Rbaser Rroe Rdp Rfield Rpos Rrep RAR WAR oRAR oWAR dWAR Salary Pos Awards
1911 24 CLE AL 19 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1 -1 -0.1 -1 -0.1 0.0 $ /1
1912 25 CLE AL 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 $ /1
1914 27 SLB AL 97 -12 0 0 0 0 5 3 -4 -0.6 -4 -0.4 -0.2 $ 1
1915 28 SLB AL 52 -3 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0.0 1 0.1 -0.1 $ 1
1915 28 DET AL 26 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0.2 2 0.2 0.0 $ 1
1916 29 DET AL 53 -8 0 0 0 0 2 2 -4 -0.6 -4 -0.4 -0.2 $ 1
1917 30 DET AL 69 -2 0 0 0 0 3 2 3 0.3 3 0.3 0.0 $ 1
1918 31 DET AL 47 -7 0 0 0 0 1 2 -4 -0.6 -4 -0.5 -0.1 $ 1
1919 32 DET AL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 $ /1
1919 32 BOS AL 26 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1 -1 -0.2 -1 -0.1 -0.1 $ 1
1919 32 CHW AL 15 -2 0 0 0 0 1 0 -1 -0.1 -1 -0.1 0.0 $ /1
8 Seasons 413 -40 0 0 0 0 17 14 -9 -1.7 -9 -1.0 -0.7 $
DET (5 yrs) 199 -17 0 0 0 0 7 7 -3 -0.7 -3 -0.4 -0.3 $
CLE (2 yrs) 24 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1 -1 -0.1 -1 -0.1 0.0 $
SLB (2 yrs) 149 -15 0 0 0 0 7 5 -3 -0.6 -3 -0.3 -0.3 $
BOS (1 yr) 26 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1 -1 -0.2 -1 -0.1 -0.1 $
CHW (1 yr) 15 -2 0 0 0 0 1 0 -1 -0.1 -1 -0.1 0.0 $

Postseason Batting

Postseason Gamelog
Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1919 32 CHW AL WS CIN L 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 WS 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS CG Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1911 CLE AL 24 P 8 51.2 16 4 11 1 0 .938 2.61 1.88 .938 2.87 2.85
1912 CLE AL 25 P 3 13.2 6 1 2 3 0 .500 1.98 1.00 .940 2.96 2.90
1914 SLB AL 27 P 44 284.0 119 11 105 3 5 .975 3.68 2.64 .936 2.96 2.93
1915 TOT AL 28 P 45 237.1 106 14 84 8 3 .925 3.72 2.18 .937 3.01 3.00
1915 SLB AL 28 P 34 170.1 76 12 58 6 2 .921 3.70 2.06 .937 3.01 3.00
1915 DET AL 28 P 11 67.0 30 2 26 2 1 .933 3.76 2.55 .937 3.01 3.00
1916 DET AL 29 P 30 151.2 56 4 46 6 1 .893 2.97 1.67 .945 2.95 2.96
1917 DET AL 30 P 34 198.0 70 4 61 5 1 .929 2.95 1.91 .947 3.04 3.05
1918 DET AL 31 P 19 122.0 49 5 43 1 4 .980 3.54 2.53 .952 2.82 2.84
1919 TOT AL 32 P 20 13 7 121.1 43 7 32 4 3 .907 2.89 1.95 .948 2.83 2.84
1919 DET AL 32 P 2 1 0 9.1 3 1 2 0 0 1.000 2.89 1.50 .947 2.80 2.85
1919 BOS AL 32 P 13 7 4 72.2 30 4 23 3 3 .900 3.34 2.08 .948 2.84 2.83
1919 CHW AL 32 P 5 5 3 39.1 10 2 7 1 0 .900 2.06 1.80 .948 2.84 2.84
8 Seasons P 203 13 7 1179.2 465 50 384 31 17 .933 3.31 2.14 .942 2.95 2.95
8 Seasons TOT 203 13 7 1179.2 465 50 384 31 17 .933 3.31 2.14 .942 2.95 2.95
Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.
View Complete Notes on Fielding Data
Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.
  • Pre-1950 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
  • From 1950 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1950 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
  • CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1919 on.
  • Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1950 to 1973 and complete from then on.
  • Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1919) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
  • Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
  • For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1950 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
  • For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Earned Run Average s c a p y
1917 AL  2.09 (8th)
Career  3.20 (247th)

Hits per 9 IP s c a p y
1917 AL  7.409 (8th)

Games Played s c a p y
1914 AL  44 (8th)
1915 AL  45 (8th)

Innings Pitched s c a p y
1914 AL  284.0 (6th)

Games Started s c a p y
1914 AL  35 (4th)

Complete Games s c a p y
1914 AL  20 (5th)

Home Runs s c a p y
1914 AL  4 (8th)
1918 AL  3 (7th)

Bases on Balls s c a p y
1914 AL  109 (4th)
1915 AL  125 (3rd)
1917 AL  96 (6th)

Hits s c a p y
1914 AL  269 (3rd)

Home Runs per 9 IP s c a p y
Career  0.122 (61st)

Earned Runs s c a p y
1914 AL  90 (3rd)
1915 AL  86 (6th)

Wild Pitches s c a p y
1914 AL  10 (4th)
1915 AL  6 (9th)

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
1916 AL  11 (3rd)
1917 AL  12 (4th)

Batters Faced s c a p y
1914 AL  1,162 (6th)

Adjusted ERA+ s c a p y
1917 AL  126 (8th)

Putouts as P s c a p y
1915 AL  14 (5th)

Assists as P s c a p y
1914 AL  105 (4th)

Errors Committed as P s c a p y
1915 AL  8 (5th)
1916 AL  6 (3rd)

Range Factor/Game as P s c a p y
1914 AL  2.64 (5th)

Fielding % as P s c a p y
1914 AL  .975 (3rd)

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray InkPitching - 14 (1277), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 5 (1306), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsPitching - 8 (1017), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Pitchers 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Johnny Niggeling (977)
  2. Doc Scanlan (970)
  3. Bert Gallia (965)
  4. Jimmy Lavender (962)
  5. Elmer Knetzer (961)
  6. Ed Daily (950)
  7. Fred Beebe (949)
  8. Johnny Rigney (949)
  9. Leon Cadore (948)
  10. Orval Grove (948)
Most Similar by Ages 
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 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Kirby White (986)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Dick Woodson (976)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Ed Lafitte (972)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Charley Hall (953)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Togie Pittinger (960)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Johnny Rigney (949)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

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Viewed 6,139 times through February 11, 2012.
Name and misspellings: Big William Will William Henry billy Bill James jimmie jimmy jim

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